Responsible travel and ecotourism

As a NPO we want to to make sailing courses sustainable for the long term – we know that tourism can have both an exceptionally positive and potentially negative impact on local communities. We are therefore committed to operating according to our responsible travel guidelines and we hope that with your help we can make a difference.

Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. Under this scope, we adopt the following principles as a core of action for our functioning as an organization:

• Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
• Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
• Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
• Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
  
• Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.

We ensure that local economies benefit from our business by using locally-owned accommodation, employing local people, working with local operators and suppliers, sourcing food from locally-owned stores and eating and drinking in local bars and restaurants. In doing so, we are not only investing in local communities but also offering our travellers a genuine insight into a country and its people.

Many of our tours include opportunities to view local wildlife in national parks or at dedicated conservation centres. Whilst these excursions can benefit both the animals and the local people who depend on them for a living, they need to adhere to strict animal welfare standards to ensure that the animals aren’t exploited.

By joining us you are sponsoring our conservation activities. Currently the donations made by our crew members/students are being directed to a particular project aiming to measure the evolution of microplastics in the southern coast of the Iberian peninsula. For this project we are working with young volunteers that are living in a foster care institution (AIPAR). They adventure themselves in the sea expeditions and later join us in school presentations, sharing their experiences with other youngsters. Thank you for supporting us!  

Our sailing expeditions are carefully planned to provide valid sea experiences that meet each participants’ individual learning ambitions while respecting ecotourism and sustainability principles.